Offshore wind, the UK’s star renewable energy technology, failed to win any contracts in this year’s auction, creating another hurdle to meeting the country’s net zero goals and risking higher bills for consumers.

Most of the 3.7 gigawatts of fresh projects that cleared in the government’s fifth auction round for new renewables, were smaller onshore wind and solar projects. Offshore wind is the easiest to deploy at large scale and will be key to meeting the country’s 2050 emissions targets.